


Halloween Shenanigans

by LightsOut



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Drinking, Fluff, Halloween
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-30
Updated: 2014-10-30
Packaged: 2018-02-23 06:33:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2537780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LightsOut/pseuds/LightsOut
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raven has a unique trick for Halloween and Charles goes along with her scheme. When this brings a few thoughts to light Erik thinks that they need to talk about a few things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Halloween Shenanigans

**Author's Note:**

> More Halloween fluff. My Muse says hi.

They go trick or treating every year.

It’s always her idea and he was always bullied into it but, by the end of the night, they were both having fun. It was better than staying indoors, mourning the times during their childhood when they were never allowed to do this.

She had a trick. He wasn’t fond of it but he would always let it slide because it wasn’t hurting anyone. Having the ability to physically change your own body was handy to a twenty five year old woman who would pretend to be a seven year old for one night. Charles as the ‘responsible adult’ would take her around the houses close by and Raven would have enough candy to last her until Christmas. Well, if Charles didn’t take half of it as payment for going along with the scheme.

This year she’d chosen to be a young, cherub cheeked blonde girl with a pink princess dress and a silver tiara. She looked adorable and when Charles told her that she scowled, “If I don’t get a butt-load of candy this year I’m not doing this again.”

She said that every year. Charles plucked nervously at his green sweater, “Are you sure that this is a good idea Raven? Why don’t you just buy your own sweets?”

Raven rolled her eyes and smoothed down the frills of her pretty dress, “You’re such a worrywart Charles. The fun is in the game.”

Charles sighed, “Very well Raven but this is our last year. I mean it this time.”

He was wearing his dark green sweater and black slacks. It made him look older than he felt and he realised that indulging Raven wasn’t always the best idea but she wasn’t doing any harm. He always ended up working hard to convince himself of that. There was a knock on the door and it was opened before Charles could answer.

Erik said, “Charles, do you have… who is that?”

Raven sneered, “What’s the matter Erik?”

Erik’s eyes widened comically, “Raven? What on Earth are you doing?”

Charles fidgeted uncomfortably, “We’re going trick or treating. It was Raven’s idea.”

Raven rolled her eyes which looked strange on such a young-looking girl, “Damn straight. We should get started Charles.”

Charles sighed and she skipped out of the room. He smiled sheepishly, “She’s not hurting anyone. She makes me do this every year. Our neighbours think that she’s my niece who stays with me during the holidays.” Erik started laughing and Charles scowled, “What?”

Erik laughed harder and had to sit down. Eventually he managed to say, “Can I come along?”

Charles jumped, “What?”

Erik shrugged, “You’re the one who is always telling me to loosen up. Don’t worry, I won’t blow your cover.”

Charles skimmed the surface of Erik’s thoughts, deliberately not intruding, and he didn’t pick up anything apart from curiosity and humour. Charles nodded, “Of course you can come with us Erik, but I thought that you hated Halloween.”

Erik shrugged, “Actually I said that I don’t like how commercialised it is.”

Charles sighed, “Very well. We’d better go before Raven becomes impatient.”

Charles was fine until they reached the first house and Erik was mistaken for his boyfriend. That was fine, if a little embarrassing because Charles’ crush was something he worked hard to hide, but then Erik had wrapped his arm around Charles’ shoulder and kissed his cheek.

Erik turned a charming smile to the young woman who’d answered the door (Erik was very capable of being charming if he wanted to) and said, “I’m just so glad that I get to spend the holidays with my two favourite people.”

The young woman had practically cooed and Charles was positive that she was paying no attention to how much candy she was giving Raven. Once the door was closed and they were on their way to the next house Raven said, “Wow, nice one Erik. You might be good for something after all.”

They kept up their teasing and the charade of Erik being his boyfriend for the entire time. Charles didn’t mind the pretence except for the fact that he didn’t want it to be a pretence. He sulked silently as he trudged along behind them but he slid a well-practised smile into place whenever a door was opened for Raven’s sake.

He called an end to the evening as soon as Raven’s bag was full and he ushered them back to the mansion despite their protests. Escaping to his study was easy since that he was there so often and neither Erik nor Raven questioned it.

Reaching for the decanter of expensive scotch was his first move once the door was closed and he settled into his armchair with a long sigh. The fire was blazing and Charles made a mental note to thank Hank in the morning. He gazed into the amber liquid and scowled. Erik was handsome, strong and he was Charles best friend. A crush, while understandable, was unwelcome and it wasn’t something that should’ve ruined his evening.

Although, Charles real problem was that he’d enjoyed the evening more than usual and he knew that it was down to Erik. It was the small touches and the calm smiles that were unlike Erik’s usual toothy grins. Charles sighed again and slumped in his chair. It was almost midnight and the mansion was quieter than usual. Charles loved the fact that the house wasn’t empty but right now the asleep minds were a blessing.

Charles should’ve stopped. He knew better than to keep drinking but his thoughts turned from maudlin to giggly and he couldn’t stop himself from lifting the bottle to his lips. It had been so long since he’d indulged that he didn’t handle the effects quite as well anymore.

That was how he found himself knocking on Erik’s bedroom door at one o’clock in the morning. He was giggling (a sound he would be mortified about in the morning) and he said in a sing-song voice, “Wakey wakey sleeping beauty. You’re prince is here.”

The door was tugged open and Charles stumbled forward, crashing hard into Erik’s nice, solid chest. Charles sniggered and Erik said, “What the hell Charles? Are you drunk?

Charles giggled again, “Possibly.” He pouted, “Raven likes you more than me.”

Erik tried to push Charles upright, “Don’t be ridiculous Charles. You need to go to bed.”

Charles chirped, “Alright.” He dashed around Erik with surprising agility for someone who was definitely drunk and he threw himself onto Erik’s warm bed. He rolled around and hummed, “Oh, this is nice.”

Erik shut the door and growled, “Damn it Charles. If you throw up I’m not cleaning up after you.”

Charles giggled and kicked off his shoes, “I haven’t done that while drunk since I was seventeen but ssh, that’s a secret and Raven can’t know.”

Erik rolled his eyes, “Where am I supposed to sleep?”

Charles patted the bed and leered, “Come on big boy. I promise not to grope you too much.” Erik didn’t move and Charles’ face fell, “Shit, I’m sorry Erik.” Charles closed his eyes and tried to get up but his body wouldn’t co-operate and he had the horrible feeling that he was crying. This was why he’d always avoided being around people he liked when he reached that particular stage of drunkenness. Charles curled up on himself and he mumbled, “Sorry.”

The bed shifted but Charles didn’t dare lift his head. Erik’s voice rumbled, “It’s alright Charles. I know you well enough by now to realise when you’re joking.”

Charles shook his head and curled up tighter, “Not that. I’m just… sorry.”

Erik’s hand came down gently on his shoulder, “There’s nothing to be sorry about Charles. I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable earlier.”

Charles laughed but it wasn’t a happy sound, “It’s not your fault Erik. I’m the one with the problem.”

Erik frowned, “What do you mean?”

Panicking, Charles tried to roll away from Erik and off the bed but Erik’s strong grip just pulled him back, “Why are you trying to run away Charles?”

Charles realised that he was being stupid but he was aware that as soon as he said the words out loud he couldn’t take them back. However, Erik was stubborn to a fault and wouldn’t let it go.

Charles looked at anything except Erik and mumbled, “We can’t have that and it made me sad. Oh, I am never drinking again.”

Charles flopped down onto his stomach and pushed his face against the pillow so that he didn’t have to face Erik. He was sure that he imagined the light trail of fingers down his covered spine because Erik sounded cold as he stood up and said, “We’ll talk about this in the morning.”

The door opened and closed, leaving Charles in a hazy drunken mess on the bed. Not even heartbreak could stop Charles from falling asleep at that moment and he was honestly grateful because he didn’t have to dwell on the past few moments.

Waking up was unpleasant to say the least. He tried to dig further into the bed but he was awake and his attempts to fall asleep again were futile. He gave up with a long sigh and he brushed gently over the other minds in the house just to reassure himself that everyone was still there. When he reached Erik he felt confusingly relieved and then he remembered what he’d said.

He opened his eyes warily, his hangover mercifully gentle, and he cringed. He was still in Erik’s bed and he was fully dressed. Moving carefully he climbed out of bed and, after a moment’s hesitation, he made the bed until every crease was gone. He grabbed his shoes, headed for the door and slipped down the corridor to his own room.

Thankfully he didn’t run into anyone on the way and he sat in his shower for twenty minutes before his cheeks had stopped flaming. The shower and fresh clothes helped but he still felt delicate as he slipped down to the empty kitchen to grab a cup of tea.

Breakfast had come and gone without him but he didn’t mind missing out for a change. Using his abilities to pinpoint everyone’s locations he dodged everyone on his way back to his room. He could work from there for one day. Charles grabbed his notebooks and settled cross-legged on the bed. During his studies he’d learned how to work with a hangover and now he was depressingly good at it. He was so immersed in his work that he didn’t hear the door open and close.

He did hear when Erik asked, “What are you doing?”

Charles jumped, “Jesus, don’t do that Erik.”

Erik grinned, “Sorry.”

Charles looked at him warily, “I’m just working. Is everything alright?”

Erik tossed the two bottles of water, packet of aspirin and a sandwich on the bed next to Charles, “I thought that you might like these. I don’t imagine that you’ve had breakfast today and even you can’t live on tea alone.”

Charles picked up one of the bottles and broke the seal, “Thanks Erik.”

Erik moved closer, peering at the notebooks, “Updates to Cerebro?”

Charles nodded, “Hank had some ideas.”

Erik sat down on a clear section of the bed, “We need to talk Charles.”

Charles picked at the label on his bottle nervously before he placed it on top of the bedside table, “Very well, Erik. I apologise if anything said or did last night made you feel uncomfortable. I know that you do not return any feelings I may have beyond the fact that we are best friends and I will not bring it up again if you wish.”

Erik was smirking, “You always have to go first don’t you? Well, Charles, lately I have been looking at our relationship differently and you should know that I am interested in pursuing something more.”

Charles was gobsmacked, “But… but… you don’t like me! We argue all of the time and you think that I’m naïve and soft and Raven hit on you!”

Erik chuckled, “Really Charles, that’s a bit overdramatic. Yes, we argue but it keeps things interesting, don’t you think? You are all of those things Charles but your also responsible, loving and you have the most ridiculous bed hair that I’ve ever seen. Plus, Raven was just lonely and she’s looking for someone to appreciate her, not that silly blonde form she wears as a mask.”

Charles blushed and said, “Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?”

Erik chuckled again and leaned closer, “Charles, do you want to try?”

Charles glanced at Erik‘s lips, then his steel-blue eyes, “Yes.”


End file.
